Both Sammy Seung-min Lee and Kazu Oba bring their native traditions to contemporary art forms. Lee practices Joomchi, a technique from Korea that manipulates and felts mulberry paper. Oba practices traditional Japanese ceramic pattern and gravitates more towards utsuwa. Utsuwa translates to vessel in English and Oba considers his vessels incomplete until they are properly used.

JFG isexcited to introduce the work of Jean Shen, a Master Chinese Brush Painter, and her students. Ink brush painting was born during the Tang Dynasty in China and developed rapidly in the Son Dynasty. It arrived in Japan during the Kamakura period. Artists express their concepts of nature and emotion through brush painting. Jean conveyed “Chinese brush painting and calligraphy is a dance without using your feet, but rather with the bamboo brush in hand.” The artists express their joy, rhythm, and vitality on rice paper. The exhibit captures the creativity and joy of the garden through its illustration of flowers, birds, and koi.

The Japanese Friendship Garden (JFG) is honored to present “Landscape in the Memory", an exhibition for Shuichi Hashimoto who is an artist and graphic designer based in Osaka, Japan. Hashimoto's work is centered on illustration, photography and installation. On display in the JFG's Exhibition Hall, will be Hashimoto's digital recreations of landscapes that he encountered during his journey of seeking unimaginable landscapes that keep him fascinated.

Scary! Kowai! We invite you to join us in celebrating the mysterious, weird, and horrific - yet humorous and adorable - world of yokai! Yokai is the Japanese word to describe a set of supernatural creatures, demons, and monsters originating from Japanese folklore. Learn of their origins and view diverse representation of their roots in various art forms.

Ethan Snow's installation and participatory art piece will be displayed in the Exhibition Hall where he presents his speculative re-interpretation of Japanese Shintoism transformed by a digitally obsessed modern society. His works will be comprised of both painting, ceramics elements, and pieces by attendants from the opening reception.

Working in partnership with the Japanese Friendship Garden, Momentum Learning and The AjA Project implemented a series of workshops that introduced students to the art of origami and photography with an emphasis on the use of abstraction and symbolism.